The House
by AdamTobiasGrayson
Summary: The War is over, Blake Belladonna returns to the house she lived in during the War in an attempt to move on from what happened. She doesn't expect the familiar face that now lives in her former home, but maybe it's a good thing. Character Deaths, AU. Mentions of Arkos, Bumblebee, White Rose. Was the first RWBY story I wrote.


Pyrrha Nikos was elated when she got the phone call about the house. She had seen the advertisement in the paper and immediately called about it. She ignored how familiar the voice sounded and made plans to come see it before buying it. It was a ways out of town, surrounded by trees and a lake a mile or so behind the house. The house itself was two stories with four bedrooms, each colored coded oddly, and all the necessities. The house was in good condition and was cheap. Which made her question the price once again.

The seller had been none other than Yang Xiao Long, a girl she went to school with. They weren't friends nor did they hang out, but Pyrrha did know her sister Ruby and was her friend, so by extension she knew of Yang. However, this wasn't the Yang she knew. The blonde was oddly reserved, she didn't smile nor did she even attempt one pun. Pyrrha just assumed it was because of what happened to her team during the war with the White Fang and simply let it go.

When Pyrrha finally got the courage built to ask why the price was so cheap Yang just said, "Too many memories. I can't stay here." Pyrrha decided not to question anymore and bought the house. She hadn't seen Yang since.

That had been a little over a year ago. She had not notice anything wrong with the house since. At first she loved it, so far away from the city with the peace and quiet. She really needed that after Jaune left her. But now it was getting somewhat lonely. Sure Nora and Ren would come by every once in awhile, but other then the times she went to get groceries Pyrrha didn't have much interaction with other people. It wasn't that they didn't talk to her, after all she was famous before she went to Beacon, but she thought she needed to be alone. Now she had been alone for to long but that was about to change.

Monday morning was like any other for Pyrrha. She showered, ate her breakfast, then cleaned the dust of Milo before hanging the javelin back with Akuou onto the wall. It hadn't been used since her part in the war and wouldn't be used for awhile longer, they gave every fresh graduate who survived time off, though some didn't take it like Ren and Nora. She wondered if perhaps she should have went with them instead of Jaune, but even he was back on the front lines.

Pyrrha read a book for a time until her quiet world was disrupted by a motor. Cars did pass by from time to time so she didn't think much of it. That is until the motor silenced and a car door slammed. Curious, Pyrrha sat up from her position to peer over the couch and out the window. Next to the black car was a woman, who seemed to be staring at the house. The black bow in the girls raven hair looked very familiar but Pyrrha couldn't place it.

She watched the girl stare at the house, obviously nervous and in pain. She took a hesitant step towards the door, but stopped, took a breath then marched to the door. Pyrrha put her book down and headed to the door just as the door bell rang.

The athlete opened the door and gave the nervous woman a small smile, "Can I help you?"  
The raven haired girl blinked in surprise, "Pyrrha? She sold the house to you?"

"How do you...wait, Blake? Is that you?" The name finally clicked in her head now that she was closer to the woman. She looked just as she did at Beacon, but she wasn't the same that much was obvious. You could see it in her eyes.

Blake nodded, "It's me."

"What are you doing here? Not that I'm saying you have to leave or anything. If you're looking for Ya-"  
"Don't finish that name." Blake interrupted, a pained look glimmering in her eyes. "I'm not here for Goldilocks. I'm here to...I was hoping the owner would let me look around the house. I didn't expect it to be you though."

Pyrrha frowned in confusion, "Let you look around?"  
Blake sighed, "I knew I'd have to explain this. Okay, I'm having to go to therapy. My therapist told me that coming back to the house where everything happened might help me get over this."

"Um, sure." The redhead stepped aside and Blake stepped in. She looked around the house, ever so slightly biting the inside of her lip.

"You didn't change anything." Pyrrha wasn't sure if it was a question or a statement.

"I just didn't have the heart. I use one of the guest rooms honestly."

Blake spun around to face her, raising an eyebrow, "Seriously?"  
Pyrrha nodded, slightly embarrassed. "Rooms painted red, white, black and yellow? Not hard to see you all lived here. With what happened to...them I thought it was disrespectful to move their stuff out. Ya- erm, Goldilocks didn't take much of her things and neither did you."

"She didn't tell you did she? No, of course not."

"Tell me what?" Pyrrha looked at her curiously.

Blake shook her head dismissively, "It's nothing. Would you mind if I look around?"  
"Go ahead."

Blake nodded appreciatively and made her way up the stairs. Pyrrha knew she should leave her be, but she wanted to make sure the woman was okay so she walked behind her. Blake walked into the first door, the red one, though she stopped as soon as she walked in. Pyrrha stopped behind her.

The room was untouched, other than when Pyrrha would come in to dust. Crescent Rose was hanging on the wall, the blade shining in the light. She thought she heard a sniffle but before she could question about it Blake spoke up, "You cleaned up in here?"

"I clean and dust in every room. I also polish Crescent Rose and Myrtenaster every week."

"They would appreciate that." Blake said sullenly. She sat on the edge of the red sheets, taking a picture frame off the bedside table.

"So, what I heard about Weiss is really true?" Pyrrha asked cautiously.

"Depends on what you heard."

"That she couldn't handle what happened to Ruby and killed herself."

Blake's eyes widened and she jumped to her feet, "What?! Who said that?"

Pyrrha shrugged, slightly taken aback by the sudden flare of emotion, "I-I don't know. I overheard two guys talking about it while I was shopping."

"That is complete bullshit. Weiss would never do that!"

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I just haven't heard anything concrete."

Blake sighed, gently setting the frame back in its place, team RWBY was smiling at the door again. "I'll tell you what happened to Weiss but nothing more. It's hard to talk about."

"Oh, it's okay if you can't talk about it." Pyrrha said.

"I don't want you thinking that. See, after Ruby," she paused and took a breath, "died, Weiss was depressed. Of course she was, she lost her girlfriend of four years. But it wasn't a normal mourning. Goldilocks and I, we couldn't get her to eat or drink or even move from her bed. Goldilocks had a right to mourn too but she couldn't focus on herself because of Weiss and when I tried to make her she refused. We were extremely worried so we would go check on her every morning. One morning I woke up to check on Weiss and.." Blake stopped, blinking back tears. Pyrrha put a comforting hand on her shoulder. It seemed to help as Blake continued shakily, "She was gone. She didn't commit suicide she just died of a broken heart."

"I'm sorry. How are you holding up?"

Blake gave her a firm glare, "I'm in therapy that should tell you how I'm doing. I lost my whole team."

Pyrrha gasped, "Did something happen to Yang?" She said the name without realizing it, but saw the visible flinch that came from Blake after hearing it.

"N-no. Not that I know of at least. We don't talk anymore…"

Pyrrha kicked herself mentally. "Blake, I'm so sorry."

"Can I be alone for a bit?" Blake asked softly.  
"Of course." Pyrrha said immediately. "I'll be downstairs." The athlete headed downstairs and sat on the couch, internally berating herself.

Pyrrha sat on her couch as she waited for Blake to come down. She couldn't help but wonder what happened between her and Yang. It must have been bad if Blake can't even hear her name. Pyrrha knew she couldn't just ask about that though, but she also knew Blake wouldn't tell her on her own. She didn't know the girl as well as she knew Ruby but she wanted to help her and talking about it could help.

Now that Pyrrha knew what happened to Weiss it made since with what happened to Ruby. Team RWBY had been ambushed by the White Fang, led by a Faunus named Adam, during a scouting mission. Adam went to stab Weiss, but Ruby used her semblance to get in between them and took the attack. Weiss saw red and tore the man-bull to shreds with Myrtensater. With the leader dead, the group retreated and RWBY rushed to get Ruby to the hospital, but they didn't make it in time. Pyrrha had went to the funeral with the rest of JNPR. Every time she saw Weiss she was sobbing her eyes out. Team RWBY was forced to sit out of the war, but the war was over shortly after the funeral.

Pyrrha herself was lucky, she didn't lose any of her team during the war. She couldn't connect with Blake on that level. She wasn't sure what to do or say when the girl came back. She fidgeted on the couch before she decided to make some hot tea for herself and Blake. Pyrrha brought the fresh drink back into the kitchen to find Blake sitting on the couch.

"I'm sorry for this." Blake said. "I'm ruining your day with all this sadness."  
Pyrrha shook her head as she sat next to her. "You're not doing any such thing. In all honesty, I've been quite lonely here. It's nice to have someone around."

"Lonely? What about JNPR? Don't they come to visit?" Blake questioned.  
"They do when they can. Nora and Ren are helping with damage control, so they don't get to visit often." Pyrrha offered Blake a cup as she sipped the other.

Taking the drink with a small nod, Blake questioned, "What about Jaune? I heard from Ruby once that you and him were an item."  
Pyrrha nodded, "We were. He came up with the strategy that gave us the edge in the war. It raised his confidence level a few bars to high. He got over confident, he wasn't the same. We thought he would get over it but then he left. He was chosen to help strategize in the effort, but he abandoned us. Jaune made it clear he wasn't coming back once the war was over."

"Oh." Blake looked away awkwardly, using the tea as a distraction.

"Don't worry. It's okay. I've come to terms with it." Pyrrha gave her a soft, assuring smile. "It just wasn't meant to be, I suppose. Realistically not many people end up with the person they dated in school."

"That may be true but it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt when it's over."  
"Indeed but life goes on."

"Is that why you're always cooped up in here?" Blake asked. "Shouldn't you be out with Ren and Nora?"

Pyrrha shook her head, "Well, technically we're still a team, but I have no partner. With regulations you have to have a partner backing you up. That's why Nora and Ren can still fight."  
"Wouldn't they just give you another partner?"

The athlete sighed, "If only it were that simple. They tried to put me with a few different partners, each one had lost their on partner in the war, but I didn't click with any of them. We just didn't have that connection. We never got better as a team so they told me to take time off. I suppose they thought the time off would help though I'm not sure how."

Blake nodded, "I tried to get back in the fight too. They wouldn't let me, said I was unstable and lacked a partner. They said I could return to the field when my therapist tells me I'm ready and I find a new partner."

"Well that's good. You need to recover." Pyrrha said.

"You can't just recover from this so easily!" Blake snapped, causing Pyrrha to jump at the raised volume. "What if I don't ever recover from this?"  
"Well, I would say the chances of you not recovering are very slim."

Blake blinked and looked at her, "What?"

"You were once a member of the White Fang. Oh, don't look so surprised, Blake, we all know now. The higher ups had to tell us where we were getting the inside knowledge from. You knew how they thought. If you hadn't told them I'm not sure we would have won." Pyrrha told her, after Blake gaped at her. "Anyway, the White Fang aren't nice people, it must have been hard growing up with them. You're strong, physically and mentally. You can get over this. It may take time but you will."

"Are you sure you're not a therapist?" Blake asked.  
Pyrrha chuckled, "I'm sure. I'm just a friend."

"You're just perfect aren't you? One of the most revered fighters in Remnant, a brilliant mind, and I'm sure you could lead if you had too."

"Oh, I'm not perfect. Yes, at first I came up with the plans for Jaune until he got some confidence, but after that many of his plans were better than the plans I had come up with."

"I have a hard time believing that." Blake said.

"I would like to discuss something with you." Pyrrha said.

Blake looked over at her, "What is it?"

"Well, your therapist said you should come back here, correct?" Blake nodded and Pyrrha continued. "Move in. Perhaps that would help you."  
Amber eyes went wide, "What? I can't impose on you like that, Pyrrha."

"It's not a problem. It gets rather lonely here."

"I suppose it would help...and hurt."

Pyrrha patted her shoulder, "And that will be good for you."  
Blake sighed, "Okay, I'll stay for a week. We'll see how it goes from there."

"That's fine." Pyrrha smiled warmly at the girl. "This will be good for you. And I'll be here for you every step of the way." The redhead wrapped her arm around the Faunus' shoulder and pulled her close.

Blake murmured into her shoulder, "I hope you're right."

* * *

**A/N**** This was written awhile back and I'm only just now uploading it. It didn't turn out quite how I wanted but I wanted to post this anyway. Also, I apparently forgot to mention it in story, but the reason Blake and Yang don't speak is because they were dating while White Rose was. When Ruby and Weiss died, Yang ran from her emotions and left Blake. Which adds to why Blake is broken emotionally.**


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